One of the great deceptions that the enemy has brought about concerning Bible prophecy is the teaching that we need to look to the nation of Israel for the fulfillment of Bible end times prophecy. And if you search for end times in the search engines, you will find that the majority of websites you click on will be focused on Israel. But on this page you will find the truth about Israel in the end times, and you will see that these people have their eyes fixed in the wrong direction.
Please remember as you study this subject of Israel in the end times, that God’s promises to Israel were conditional upon them following and keeping His commandments and accepting Christ Jesus as their Saviour. Take a look at the following Bible verses:
Exodus 19:5-6 …’Now therefore, IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.’
1 Kings 6:12-13 …’Concerning this house which thou art in building, IF thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, THEN I will perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.’
1 Kings 9:6-7 …’BUT IF ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: THEN will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people.’
Jeremiah 18:7-10 …’ At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.’
Do you see? IF you obey me, THEN I will keep my covenant with you. But if you do not obey Me, then I will REPENT of the good I promised. Conditional!
And we all know that the Jewish nation continued to sin against God and rejected Christ Jesus as their saviour! Therefore BREAKING the “everlasting covenant” which would only remain as an everlasting covenant through obedience.
Now there is something that Jesus told the Jews through one of His parables which also helps us to understand what would happen to the Jewish nation. Have a good read of the parable of the vineyard in Luke 20:9-16. Here you will see Jesus giving a story about a vineyard owner (God) going away and leaving his vineyard (God’s kingdom on earth) to ‘husbandmen’ (the Jews) to take care of it and ‘bare fruit’ (expand God’s kingdom). And while the owner was away, he sends ‘servants’ (prophets) to see how things are and collect the ‘fruit’. But the husbandmen beat the servants and sent them away empty handed (The Jews by and large rejected the prophets). Then the owner (God) sends his son (Jesus Christ). And the husbandmen KILL the son (Jews have Jesus killed). And what did Jesus say would happen to the husbandmen (the Jews) after doing all these things? They would be destroyed (destruction of Jerusalem in AD70) and the vineyard (kingdom of God) would be GIVEN TO OTHERS (the Gentiles, or anyone who accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour).
Now look at how the Jews reacted to this parable: Acts 20:16 …’And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.’ … Meaning they KNEW that Jesus was saying THEY would be destroyed and the kingdom would be TAKEN OFF THEM AND GIVEN TO ANOTHER PEOPLE. And this is EXACTLY what happened!
This is so important, because you will not reach the truth about the end times until you understand the role of “Israel” in endtime Bible prophecy.
It’s interesting to find out where this focus on the nation of Israel came from. All this hype about Israel in theend times came from a man called Hal Lindsey, who wrote books in the 1980’s proclaiming that the focus of the end times would be in Israel, including a literal battle of armageddon in Israel. In these books he proclaimed a “rapture of the church“, a literal temple being rebuilt where the antichrist would be revealed, a literal armageddon and a thousand year millennium on earth for the church. The amazing thing is, he proclaimed that all this was to happen by the year 1988!! Now even though these events didn’t take place as Hal predicted and his belief’s have been shown to be error, the majority of Christians around the world who study end times prophecy still hold on to these teachings. But what we will show you here is that Israel in the Bible end times has a spiritual application, not a literal one.
To accompany this study, please see 70 weeks of Daniel for a fuller understanding of Israel in the end times.
Remember how the Jews misenterpreted Bible prophecy and thought that Jesus was going to come the first time as this mighty warrior who would setup a “physical” kingdom on earth and rule over the nations? Well, we have it all over again with end time prophecy students and teachers today believing the exact same thing! But this time with the second coming of Christ. They believe that Jesus is going to return, after a secret rapture of the church and setup His kingdom in Israel and rule there for the thousand year millennium. The Bible prophecy teachers today are so focused on war and destruction in Israel, that they are missing the great spiritual application of God’s kingdom, just as the disciples did during Jesus’ first coming.
Luke 17:20-21 …..’And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh NOT with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’
Do you see what Jesus is saying in the above Bible verse? He’s explaining in clear words that the kingdom is a “SPIRITUAL” one. And yet the disciples were still clinging to the belief that Christ would setup a physical kingdom to rule from on earth, just like the prophecy teachers of today … Luke 24:21 …..’But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.’ … They were still holding on to that notion, and when Jesus died on the cross, their hopes were crushed! They just didn’t understand the spiritual application of Israel and the kingdom of God, until the day of Pentecost.
Now there’s a Bible verse that many Christians love to quote when defending their belief in the literal nation of Israel being the endtime kingdom … Matthew 10:34 …..’Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.’ … It’s a good verse that is completely misunderstood. Christians love to apply this to war and destruction, but the “sword” that Jesus was talking about was His WORD, His TEACHINGS. … Ephesians 6:17 …..’And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ … His Word was the “double edged sword” that would bring division throughout the world
Many sincere Christians have been deceived by the Roman Catholic Jesuits. How? Because after the Protestant reformers revealed the Roman Catholic Church as the antichrist church, the Jesuits were commissioned in a “counter-reformation” to invent new interpretations of end time Bible prophecy, in a bid to take people’s eyes off the Papal Church as antichrist. This they greatly succeeded as many Christians now adopt the false Jesuit interpretations of Bible prophecy. And not only that, many of the Protestant churches are now UNITING again with the Papal Church!
Spiritual Israel
This starts to become more clear when you study how the name “Israel” came about and what it signifies. As you know, Israel was the name given to Jacob … Genesis 32:28 …..’And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.’ … Just before this, Jacob was greatly distressed because of his sin (deception) towards his brother Esau, and was greatly afraid that Esau, who was on his way to meet Jacob with 400 men, was going to kill him. So Jacob prayed to God for help and protection, and an angel came to him and a great struggle began between Jacob and the angel. The reason for the struggle is that Jacob would not let the angel go until he received a blessing from God. The angel proclaimed that Jacob had prevailed and gave him the name Israel. This represented Jacob’s struggle and victory over sin through God’s grace, and therefore God applied the SPIRITUAL name of Israel to Jacob.
God also applied the SPIRITUAL name of Israel to Jacob’s descendents … Exodus 4:22-23 …..’And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.’ … Now who is God asking Pharaoh to let go? Not Jacob himself, but all His people. So God is applying the name “Israel” to ALL HIS PEOPLE.
Now take a look at the following interesting application of the name Israel … Hosea 11:1 …..’When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.’ … Who was God talking about here? Was it the literal nation of Israel? Well, Israel had by now fallen in and out of apostasy many times, so was God talking about someone else? … Matthew 2:13-14 …..’And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.’ … King Herod wanted Jesus killed and so God gave word to Joseph to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. So was God talking about Jesus (as Israel) in Hosea? Well, look at this next verse … Matthew 2:15 …..’And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, out of Egypt have I called my son.’ … Do you see this amazing truth? Matthew is quoting directly from Hosea, saying that the “Israel” spoken of in Hosea was Christ Jesus! So do you see the SPIRITUAL application of the name Israel?
Bible verses that once applied to literal Israel in the Old Testament, are now applied in a spiritual symbolic way to Christ Jesus, as Israel are no longer the “seed” because Christ is … Galatians 3:16 …..’Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.’ … Christ is now the seed, and anyone who believes in Him and follows Him are his CHOSEN PEOPLE.
Remember in the Old Testament that the Israelites were called God’s “chosen people”, “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation”? … Exodus 19:6 …..’And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.’ … But this statement is now applied to Christians … 1 Peter 2:9 …..’But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ … If you like many others think that Peter is talking to the Jews, then take another look. Peter says these people were “called out of darkness and into His marvellous light“. There is only one group of people this could be … THE GENTILE CONVERTS who are now Christians!
Galatians 3:29 …..’And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.’
Romans 2:29 …..’But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.’
Friend, this is the amazing Bible truth about Israel. If you remember in Galatians 3:16, Paul stated that Christ was now the seed of Abraham, and above he says that ANYONE who is in Christ is also Abraham’s seed. In other words, ANYONE, whether Jew or Gentile will be called Israel!And as Paul confirms in Romans above, ANYONE can be a Jew (called Israel) if they are circumcised in the heart and are in Christ Jesus.
What does this mean? It means that literal Jews (Israel) are no longer God’s special chosen people. Instead, ANYONE who comes to Christ Jesus now has that special position.
Romans 9:6-8 …..’Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.’ … In other words, we who are “children of Christ” are counted for the promise and become the special chosen people. Being a Jew of the flesh counts for nothing now. Anyone who worships God in spirit and truth now is TRUE Israel … Philippians 3:3 …..’For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO confidence in the flesh.’
Now from what we have learned above, let’s apply it to the following verse … Romans 11:26 …..’And so all Israel shall be saved.’ … Many people apply this to literal Israel of the flesh, saying that all literal Jews will turn to Christ Jesus in the last days and be saved. But in light of what we have learned above, there is only ONE conclusion that we can come to, which is, ALL WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS will be saved … SPIRITUAL ISRAEL! And if you read Romans 11 in context, then you will see that Paul says in verse 14 that he wants to provoke the people of his own flesh (literal jews) to jealousy, so that some of them MIGHT be saved.
So you can see from the language Paul is using that SOME of the literal Jews MIGHT be saved IF they turn from their sins and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And in light of the rest of the clear evidence shown, the Israel he speaks of in Romans 11:26 must be the true Christian Church.
Galatians 3:28 …..’There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for YE ARE ALL ONE in Christ Jesus.’
Colossians 3:10-11 …’And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.’
I hope you see this truth, because you will not get to the truth about end times Bible prophecy unless you see the truth that the name of Israel is now applied to the Christian Church. Words like Israel, temple, mount Zion, Babylon, all have a symbolic spiritual meaning in end time prophecy, not a literal one. Once you understand this, you can move forward in your study of Bible prophecy and your eyes will be opened WIDE!
Jesus said to the Jews … “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matthew 23:38)
Jesus also said … “Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:43)
The Jews had Jesus crucified and even said themselves … “His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matthew 27:25) … And not only did they reject Christ and crucify Him, they also rejected God’s extended mercy to them when they rejected the gospel message given through the apostles. Then Paul says to them … “It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing as ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the gentiles.” (Acts 13:46)
After Jesus was crucified, the gospel message had to go to the Jews first to fulfill the 70 weeks of Daniel. In His mercy, God gave the Jews a last chance to turn to Him and accept the gospel message, but they rejected it, and therefore the “kingdom was taken from them” and the apostles turned their attention from the Jews to the Gentiles. This is the truth about Israel in the end times. They are no longer the chosen of God and therefore we need not look to them for fulfillment of end times Bible prophecy. end-times-prophecy.org
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